It was at the start of September 2018 that Mahindra launched the Marazzo, an MPV designed to sit between the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and the Toyota Innova Crysta in terms of size and price, and to lure in buyers from both segments. Only a couple of months later, Maruti is set to fire right back with the launch of the second-generation Ertiga, which, with a more premium feel inside and out, a new petrol engine and more equipment, looks to strengthen its hold on the market. We compare the two to see how they stack up on paper.
Dimensions
The new Ertiga is longer, wider and taller than the outgoing model. That should translate into more space on the inside, even though the wheelbase stays the same as that on the current-gen Ertiga. That said, despite the increase in size, expect the weight of the new Ertiga to drop thanks to it being based on the lightweight Heartect platform that also forms the basis for the Baleno, Swift, Dzire and Ignis.
Yes, the new Ertiga is bigger, but even so, the Marazzo easily dwarfs it in terms of dimensions. It is notably longer, wider and taller, and at 2,760mm, has a longer wheelbase, too. That translates into a good amount of interior space. With all three rows up, you get 190 litres of luggage space on the Marazzo, which is a bit less than the Ertiga's 153-litre boot. Despite the Marazzo being closer to the Innova Crysta size-wise, its claimed turning radius, at 5.25 metres, is closer to the Ertiga's 5.2 metres. Also worth noting is the fact that the Marazzo's 45-litre fuel tank is the same size as the new Ertiga's.
Engines and gearboxes
On offer with the new Ertiga will be the all-new, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder K15B petrol engine, replacing the older model’s 1.4-litre petrol engine. The Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre diesel engine has been carried over from the previous Ertiga.
There is no petrol engine on offer with the Marazzo, and it will likely only be introduced by 2020. For now, what you get with the Marazzo is a 1.5-litre diesel engine; an all-new unit that produces 123hp and 300Nm of torque, which is a good deal more than the Ertiga diesel's 90hp and 200Nm.
Tech-wise, both petrol and diesel versions of the Maruti come with mild-hybrid technology. The petrol motor gets a dual-battery setup (borrowed from the recent Ciaz facelift), while the diesel carries on with its single-battery setup like the previous model.
In terms of transmissions, the new Ertiga sticks with a 5-speed manual for the 105hp 1.5-litre petrol and 90hp, 1.3-litre diesel variants, and just like the previous Ertiga, there is a 4-speed automatic available with the petrol. There's not much in the way of choice with the Marazzo - there is just a 6-speed manual available. An automated manual transmission will eventually come, but again, only by 2020.
Fuel efficiency
Unsurprisingly, the Ertiga, being the smaller and lighter MPV here, is more efficient, by quite a margin. Claimed efficiency for the new Ertiga is pegged at 25.47kpl for the diesel, 19.34kpl for the petrol-manual and 18.69kpl for the petrol-auto. These numbers show a marked improvement over the older-gen model’s figures by 0.95kpl, 1.84kpl and 1.69kpl, respectively. The Marazzo, despite being significantly larger, claims to return an impressive 17.3kpl. However, the Mahindra’s figure is significantly lower than the Maruti’s.
Prices
Prices for the new Ertiga are as competitive as the previous one, with understandable increases due to the added features and safety kit. The range now starts at Rs 7.44 lakh and goes up to Rs 10.90 lakh. Even with the hike in price, the new Ertiga is a superb value-for-money proposition, but it’ll be interesting to see if buyers will instead be tempted to buy the significantly larger Marazzo, especially since prices for it start at Rs 9.99 lakh and go all the way up to Rs 13.90 lakh.
Think the new Ertiga has what it takes to maintain its hold on the market, or is the Marazzo a better value-for-money proposition? Let us know in the comments.
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
Lenny D'sa
